the bologna code

Yes, I finally fell in love. Those butterflies in my stomach. I can’t fall asleep as the reality seems better than the dream. I am dreaming about new plans. I am trying new things and discovering new interests.

You already know me, so I bet you realize it. I fell in love with another city.

Bologna – a great chapter that has just started three weeks ago. Unexpectedly. Very spontaneously bought train tickets and went away. With no significant plan. Just to walk around. Read a book. Chill. Maybe meet some people. Did I expect that the city will have such a great impact on myself? Not at all.

Let’s start from the beginning. As any bigger city in Italy, Bologna has its unique adjectives that sum up her soul. Why do I assume it’s a Lady? Because despite all very specific and sometimes even dark corners of the city, I can feel the feminine side of it. So Bologna is just a proper Lady for me 😉 So what are the adjectives for her? ‘La rossa, La dotta, La Grassa’. In other words, eductated, red and fat. It describes the place to the point. The city is full of very wise people, that even within 3 mintue conversation have something interesting to say that will leave you hanging with a thought till the end of the day. They also love having a drink and a dinner under beautiful cloth halls with red roof tiles (which are actually the big advantage of the city, as both times I have been there it rained). Funny thing is that in regards to the cuisine, I have discovered that actually spaghetti bolognese does not exist. I mean not in a worldwide known form, so with pasta spaghetti and ragu al bolognese sauce. Simply because this type of pasta is too thin and destroys under the heavy sauce. Now we know why it is simply impossible to be eaten and for us to remain without stains!

Following my interest in everything that is less usual, I have made my own investigation, almost like the one from the da Vinci code, and followed the well-known secrets (nice oxymoron, isn’t it?!) of Bologna. You’d be surprised how many of them appear in this, yes I will say it, slightly communist city.

First one is connected with my first weekend there and is about the Il Portico di San Luca. The longest portico in the world. It leads us straight to the sanctuary on the top of the hill. Unfortunately, the view from it is slightly disappointing, but on the way you can see an old stadium and just a big of panorama at the city. Anyway, what is so mysterious about this place? The number. The diabolic number 666. It reflects the number of all arcades that belong to this portico. It is a bit strange that in the end it leads to such a religious place. Or maybe it is just me? Bologna definitely is the city that breaks rules and she doesn’t care about what is perceived as normal.

Let’s see another proof of that. Fontana del Nettuno. At first sight very normal. Actually, I haven’t noticed anything abnormal, but the second time I have visited the city, I have noticed it from another angle. The thumb. The thumb that is, just saying it very politely, the extension of the male’s attribute. Of course the first thing I did was to google it! Was it only me having this connotaion?! Thank god no. There are more of us.

Actually it was done on purpose. The sculpture didn’t get the permission to make the penis as long as he believed it should be, so.. he has decided to place the thumb in the strategic area. It worked. Obviously! To add up to this. It is placed in the square straight to the window of window that used to be a building of nun’s. Apparantly, they have been so gutted about the view that they have covered the window completely. Is it true? We can’t be sure. But definitely sounds provocative. Like the whole city.

Another quite rebellious story is connected with the affair. How could it be different?! Portico Corte Isolani. It supposedly has 3 arrows stuck in it. I haven’t seen them. I was standing and staring and have seen nothing. In any case, they are supposed to be there after the big scene made after the husband got to know his wife was cheating on him! He has paid three archers to kill the lover, however, the wife has shown her breast during the execution to distract the men. They all missed it and the beau remained alive.

Panis vita, canabis protectio, vinum laetitia. That smell of the city. It reminded me the smell of Amsterdam, Berlin and UK. The smell of marihuana. Maybe this fresco is not meant to mean what it means today, but it adds this freedom feeling to the city. In the past cannabis meant simply the fibre or canvas. Let me believe in this independent meaning though.

Can you hear those whispers? I have heard a lot of italian swear words while standing on the other side of Palazzo di Podesta! The walls of this place are created in a way to enable the listener on the other side to hear what the other person is saying while standing on the opposite. It is said it was created like that on purpose. To allow leprotic people to confess. I don’t know if this is the truth, but I would definitely love to try this one out with one of my friends or… to ‘mishear’ some crazy story of another person. Admit it… you would love to hear something like that as well! Everyone loves other people’s secrets!

I admit it. I took all of the photos from the internet this time. Mainly because I got so caught up in the moment of the city that I spent most of the time witouht my camera and the phone almost dead, as I kept on forgetting to recharge it. I met amazing people, that I really hope to keep in touch with.

Now, can you guess why do I love this city that much? What are the main adjectives that come to your mind that me and Lady Bologna have in common? Or maybe which ones I aim to achieve and build up my life on that this mysterious city insipired me with?

To make it easier for you, I will share some of the feelings that this city is giving to me. First of all, it is inspiring. You see the art everywhere. In every corner. In people. In the walls. Modern art shaken with medieval memories. It gives a kick to the creativity, but also makes me feel calm. Just sitting on some square and reading. I feel outside my zone. Because it is far enough for me to disattach from my current home, but close enough to go there every other weekend to create my own space. What I have always looking for in my life was this place that will allow me to build up a separate world, where I can fully focus on my personal plans and to look for inspirations and motivations to proceed with my adventure. It used to be Spain for a while. Then come back to Poland.

This Lady is rebbelious and is not scared to go her own way. I don’t know if I am there yet, but surely I want to be this independent person that overcomes the fears and some established rules. Yes, this is slightly liberal lifestyle – somehow a getaway from the normality. This Lady helps me to have smile on my face and feeling better in my own skin. It is open minded and proves that the normality simply does not exist.